NORTH BEND — In other dance styles, a little extra blubber around the middle would be a no-no. Not so in belly dancing. Here women of all shapes and sizes are recognized for their ability to swerve their hips and elegantly move their arms in serpentine spirals.

“This is the only dance form where you can be middle age, overweight, and be a professional dancer,” said Mezdulene Reed, the organizer of the 2008 Belly Dancer U.S.A. Competition. “It’s non-impact. It’s a lot more body friendly than other dance forms.”

 At the Belly Dancer U.S.A. Competition, held Saturday and Sunday at The Mill Casino-Hotel, about 80 dancers and nearly 200 hundreds audience members were treated to 12 hours of belly dancing. The event, which has been running for 26 years and began in Coos Bay, has returned to the area for the first time since the early 1990s.

Reed said it had been held at a casino in Canyonville, but she wanted it to return to its hometown. Reed now lives in Sutherlin. She used to live in Coos Bay.

“It’s bringing it home,” Reed said.

For the event, the Salmon Room, typically used for meetings and conventions at The Mill, was transformed by the music and sensual dancing into a Middle Eastern bazaar, replete with hookahs, exotic jewelry and heavily beaded bodices typically worn by dancers. The outfits sparkled with beaded fringe in gold, bright pink, sea green and other eye-catching colors.

Several participants in the competition emphasized that belly dancing is not a form of stripping. Instead, it is and was a dance form shared by women.

“For thousands of years, women danced for other women. It only came out into the public eye 200 years ago,” Reed said. “It’s a very feminine dance form. The costuming, the whole energy of the dance  ... dates back to matriarchy.”

A dance teacher from the Mystical Oasis Dance Company, Reed has been belly dancing since 1980.

Belly dancing, she explained is for all types of women. The competition itself has drawn dancers from as far as Korea in the past. This year, participants included women from Florida, Illinois and California, as well as Oregon.

Reed started the competition to give dancers a format to showcase their skills, while encouraging them to practice regularly.

“It gives us a chance to educate the general public about our art form,” Reed said.

As Reed spoke, dancers took the stage to perform “The Dance of the Seven Veils” — Reed’s favorite. She told the crowd that many people believe the dance is connected to the story of Salome, who belly danced for a Palestinian ruler in exchange for the head of St. John the Baptist on a platter. This is not so, Reed said, explaining that nowhere in the Bible does it say Salome danced with seven veils. Instead, the most likely story for the dance is that it is of the goddess Ishtar, who descended into the netherworld to retrieve her husband. At each of the seven gates of hell, she danced for the gate keepers to gain access.

“I love it. I only usually get three or four entries. But I don’t care, I love it,” Reed said.

The competition began with Jennifer Boettcher, 37, of Coos Bay. Swathed in jewel-toned veils that seemed to hang from every part of her body, Boettcher danced with the veils, forming patterns in the air with the diaphanous cloth before dropping them at her feet. When she took the stage, the dancer was greeted by trills and zaghareets  — a call that sounds something like “aye-yai-yai” and is considered a sign of joy and encouragement.

“She’s doing a great job,” Reed whispered. “Handling seven veils is difficult because you have to tuck them in on your person. It’s one of the hardest things you can do.”

Boettcher, a Coquille kindergarten teacher by day, said Saturday represented her very first competition. She’s been dancing for about two years under the tutelage of local belly dancing teacher Crystal Lewis.

“(I) just finally had the guts,” Boettcher said. “It went all right. You mess up a little, but it’s fun. ... It’s amazing to have enough confidence to get out there.”

Boettcher was followed by “Yasmine,” a dancer from Benicia, Calif., whose peach-colored veils glittered in the stage light as she undulated and contorted her body to the music.

Reed said Yasmine is a more experienced dancer than Boettcher but she felt the novice had spread her veils more gracefully across the floor. The competition also had a comedic side to it. During the alternative music professional competition, dancers transformed themselves into a variety of characters from Mary Katherine Gallagher, from a popular Saturday Night Live skit, who danced with one veil, to a pirate and a bee-hived dancer who shimmied to the B-52s “Love Shack,” and occasionally threw coins from her halter top into crowd.

After her performance, Boettcher said she enjoys belly dancing because it’s an activity for women, by women.

“It’s a beautiful dance. It needs to be out there for what it really is,” Boettcher said. “For me, it builds confidence. I’ve never really felt I could follow a rhythm and dance.”

Her teacher, Lewis, who sat in the audience, runs two dance troupes and one student group at the Harding Learning Center in Coos Bay. She said she was pleased with student performances and the fact that the competition is back in Coos County.

“I’m hoping it will open people’s minds and bring some culture to the area,” Lewis said.

Belly dancing is a great way for women to meet and good exercise, she noted.

“It gives women a sense of confidence and self esteem, and it’s a lot of fun to watch,” Lewis said.